Fate's Revenge
by Lancelot47
Summary: After the death of her parents and her beloved Uncle Harry, Fate sends Rose Weasley back in time to put right the wrongs committed on Harry and Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

Fate's Revenge.

A Harry Potter Story.

Authors Notes:

The following story is based on situations and characters owned by J.K. Rowling and/or her publishers/WB.

If I owned the characters and situation I'd be filthy rich and the ending would be completely different. :p

Spoilers for all seven books including the vile OBWF and crapilogue. :(

Warnings: Character deaths and scenes of suicide.

Thanks to my Proof reader:Tumshie.

Chapter One

A lone witch left the Ministry of Magic and headed for the London Underground. It was half past six on a Thursday evening during an early cold snap in November. The temperature was hovering around three degrees Celsius, but the wind chill factor made it feel like it was actually closer to freezing. The woman was dressed in a simple navy muggle suit, consisting of a knee-length dress and a double-breasted jacket. She was five feet, eight inches tall, had auburn hair and a lightly freckled face; she stood in shoes with a one inch heel. She commuted by the Underground instead of apparating as she lived in a flat complex in muggle London.

The Underground was a brisk five minute walk from the front door of the small one bedroom flat that she rented with her meagre wages. The woman squared her shoulders as she left the dry and relatively warm Underground to brace the driving sleet and rain on her trek back to her flat. The sleet lashed her face, leaving the feeling that her skin was being attacked by thousands of pins and needles.

Rose Weasley turned the key in the main door of her flat and removed her waterlogged coat and hung it up by the door before drying it with a charm, now that she was out of sight of muggles. Sebastian approached and ran around Rose's legs in greeting while looking for food. Sebastian was a black half Kneazle with a white patch of fur around his left eye and the last two inches of his tail was topped with white.

'Hello, Sebastian, how was your day? Let me get dried and changed before I get your grub, okay?' greeted Rose.

Sebastian head butted Rose's shin and walked away in a huff. Rose frowned while she slipped her feet out of her shoes. Once her shoes were off Rose cast a charm to dry them before she went to the bathroom. She turned on the shower to let it warm up as she removed her wet clothes. Just as she got into the shower and let the warm spray play over her body she felt an icy shiver go through her body. Goosebumps played across her body, she placed her two hands on the tiled wall to steady herself and let the warm spray heat her body and wash away her troubles.

After the shower Rose went to her bedroom and slipped into an old comfortable jersey and tracksuit trousers. The jersey was a replica of her uncle Harry's while he played in Hogwarts. Potter and the number seven was stencilled on the back of the faded jersey in a gold thread. Her mother had gotten it for her when she asked for it for her fifteenth birthday. As she put the jersey on she once again felt an icy shiver pass through her body. She frowned wondering if the central heating had broken down again. That was all she needed on a cold November night. Her stomach growled, her body's way of looking for food, so Rose went to the kitchenette and opened a can of cat food for Sebastian. The half Kneazle appeared out of nowhere to eat his meal, purring in contentment. Rose smiled down at him before turning to the task of feeding herself. Her cupboards were bare, all that was left were some ingredients to make vegetable soup. She should have gone shopping, but did not fancy lugging it back to the flat in the driving rain. She had a few left over mushrooms from when she had made Shepherd's pie and a few leeks from a failed diet. She smiled at the memory of her Uncle Harry teaching her a few recipes when she moved from the family home seven years ago. As she remembered her Uncle's teaching she felt dread in her heart, but dismissed it when the soup started to boil. She turned the soup down so that it could simmer as she set a place for one at the table. After ladling the soup into a bowl Rose went to the table to eat.

Rose Weasley sighed as she sat down at the kitchen table alone for her evening meal. The meal consisted of the homemade vegetable soup made with mushrooms and leeks with two rolls of brown bread. As she slowly ate the meal she pondered her twenty five years on this earth. While at Hogwarts she dove head long into her studies emulating her studious mother. She managed to do one better than her mother and achieve her N.E.W.T.s. All of her N.E.W.T.s were at the Outstanding grade bar one, she had only managed an Acceptable in Divination. Over all it was an excellent result. Her mother had never returned to school to attend her seventh year, instead her mother helped her father attend the Auror academy. Looking back she wondered why her mother did such a thing. All her friends from school had drifted away to do their own thing. Her work colleagues all hated her as she was the youngest head of department in over two hundred years. Even though Rose was a department head she was poorly paid as she was a half-blood because her father was a pure-blood and her mother was muggleborn. She was younger than all her staff, she was aware that they were not happy that she was in charge but there was nothing she could do about it. She knew that when her mother was in school she would have fought the racial abuse but now she seemed to be indifferent about Rose's predicament. It was as if her mother had given up and nothing in the Ministry had changed, there was still rampant abuse of power and position going on. Racial abuse still occurred and pure-bloods still saw themselves as the elite of society.

She always had an uneasy feeling growing up. Before Hogwarts, Rose retreated in to her books like her mother had done when she was a little girl. The excitement of going to Hogwarts and learning magic overwhelmed her uneasy feelings that were always bubbling under the surface. When she got to Hogwarts, Rose pushed those feelings deep inside and almost forgot about them. She seemed to have inherited her mother's intelligence and her father's love of Quidditch. She had successfully learned to fly a broom but never got on to the team. Rose never understood why she was never given a place on a team. Was it because she had famous parents? Rose never found a rock solid answer to the question as she always played pickup games with her cousins. Her father and Uncle considered her to be a very good Chaser and wondered why she never got on to the team in her second year. Rose did not mind as she preferred to watch the game than participate. Her love of the game was the friendly pickup games instead of the pressure of performing on the house team in Hogwarts. Her Uncle Harry gave her a Nimbus 2020 for her fifteenth birthday as he knew she loved to fly. The broom had been released a year before to much fanfare as it was hoped that the broom would help the company turn a profit again. The broom was a special edition as the team that the company had sponsored won the league. Her seven years in Hogwarts passed in a rush of learning and making school friends.

The uneasy feeling that Rose thought she had buried returned with a vengeance when she took up her first job as a lowly office clerk in the Ministry. Over the past three years the feeling of dread was getting stronger. When she mentioned it to her mother it was dismissed as worry over the new rising Dark Lord. Over the last two years a lot of witches and wizards were going missing for no apparent reason. It was curious that hardly any pure-bloods had gone missing. Then the rumours started talking about a new Dark Lord, but no one could give a name to this new terror. Rose thought that it was just like the war with Voldemort all those years ago. Like then, people were afraid to say the Dark Lord's name and as such Rose didn't even know the name of the new Dark Lord, so how could she be afraid of an unknown villain. Her father and Uncle Harry looked worried when Rose had seen them on Monday last. Rose knew instinctively that her rising dread was not because of some Dark Lord. Unlike many of her peers she was not worried of being attacked as her parents and Uncle Harry had taught her from a young age how to defend herself just in case. Rose was a skilled in unarmed combat and quite skilled with a wand, thank you very much.

Realising that the soup bowl was now empty, Rose got up and started clearing the table. Once the table was cleared and wiped down she began to wash the dishes the Muggle way so that she could ponder some more on her uneasy feeling. She paused in the washing of the soup bowl when another chill went through her, her legs felt like they were filled with jelly. She let the bowl fall into the sink full of water and managed to reach the kitchen chair and sank into the seat. She worried at what was wrong. She heard a noise in her small flat, the bedroom door opened and Rose's familiar entered the Kitchen its tail held high.

'Sebastian! you startled me.' exclaimed Rose.

Sebastian jumped up into Rose's lap and started to purr. Rose started to pet her familiar all the while the worry from the chill seeped out of her as her fingers combed Sebastian's fur. After cuddling Sebastian for about a quarter of an hour Rose got up and finished the dishes. A quick flick of her wand and a tempus charm revealed that it was half nine. Rose sighed, she had to be into work tomorrow at half seven, another early night. Rose got into bed and opened her book to read for half an hour before she fell asleep.

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Rose awoke the following morning still feeling groggy as she had a poor night's sleep. Her dreams were bad, although one would not consider them to be nightmares. Now that she was awake she was rapidly forgetting what the bad dream was about. Sebastian got up off of the foot of the bed and trotted off to do whatever cats and Kneazles do in the morning. Rose smiled at her familiar and went to have her morning shower. After a light breakfast of muesli and orange juice Rose decided she had put off heading in to work enough. The time was now six thirty she would be at her desk in forty five minutes. The journey on the Underground was gruelling like always as the office workers started to trickle into work. Business was picking up after a long recession, the economic forecast for the next eighteen months were good. For the last twelve years Muggle Britain was in the depths of a recession, but after the most recent election, the new government instituted new changes that turned around the economy. Over the last six months Rose noticed that the passenger numbers on the train she caught had increased as more and more people were employed in the city.

The ministry was quiet as a graveyard when she entered the building at twenty five past seven in the morning. She nodded to Stan on the security desk as she passed over her wand for inspection. He smiled toothlessly back as he returned her clean wand. Rose wondered what her grandparents on her mother's side would think of his smile as she headed for the lifts. The doors opened on the level where the Aurors were located and two Aurors entered the lift. Rose suddenly noticed the cramp in her stomach and her skin was tingling in anticipation, for what she was not sure. The lift arrived at her floor and she got off. The feeling of panic was escalating as she entered her empty department, she was always the first to start work in the mornings.

Rose sank into her chair behind her desk and tried to control her breathing. After a while her panic attack subsided. Rose wondered should she go and see a Healer when a knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

'Enter' bade Rose, her voice trembled from the after effects of her unusual panic attack.

A male entered in Auror Dress Robes.

'Excuses me, Ms. Weasley, can I have a word?' asked the man quietly.

Rose studied the man wondering why she would be disturbed at this hour, but answered, 'Yes, Mr. . . . ?'

'Sorry, Ms. Weasley, my name is Charles Hammond, I work under your father. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Wordsworth was on duty last night and broke protocol and sent an owl to your mother. I have only found out in the past four hours that your Father was on a mission yesterday, and I am sorry to say he was killed in action. We don't know all the information about the operation yet but your uncle Harry Potter was with your father and he was also killed in action. Of the eight Aurors involved in the mission none survived. I am sorry to say I don't know why Mr. Potter and your father were involved as the last field operation they were involved with was over ten years ago. I hate to be the one to break it to you.' said Hammond in a quiet sombre voice.

Rose felt a lump well up in her throat as she heard about her daddy and Uncle Harry being dead. Her nose was running and she was startled when she realised her cheeks were wet with tears. Hammond silently handed over a clean white handkerchief, which Rose used to noisily blow her nose. Rose was peripherally aware that she was sitting down, she thought that if she was standing she would of collapsed as her legs felt like they were made of jelly and would not hold her weight. Instead she slumped into the chair weeping.

After a few minutes crying it dawned on her that Hammond had said that some desk jockey had sent an owl to her mother with the news, she thought that the desk jockey was a heartless bastard. Rose quickly picked up a quill and hastily wrote a memo before sending it to her superior. She had to see if her mother was okay, and also help her through this death in the family. In her haste she never noticed Hammond quietly leave the office and Rose to her grief.

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It had been over a fortnight since Rose had been home. Rose had moved to London to be closer to work for the morning commute. She preferred to live on the Muggle side as it was easier than being a child of an infamous heroine always stared at by the general wizarding populace. After her Uncle Harry had defeated Voldemort, the magical population went through an explosion in numbers. At a guess Rose thought that there were four times the number of witches and wizards from those of her parents' generation. And one of the most active at increasing the population were Teddy and Victoria Lupin, who were expecting their eleventh child next month. They were always teased that they were going at it like rabbits.

After receiving the dreadful news, Rose made directly for the main Apparation point in the Ministry. It took about a minute to settle herself so that she could concentrate on her parents' house so that she did not Splinch herself. Rose arrived on the front door step and politely knocked three times. The sound echoed through the house. There was no answer and after waiting an agonizingly long five minutes all the while hammering on the door Rose tapped her wand against the magical lock and the door opened. Rose knew that Hugo was no longer living at home, he was currently sleeping his way through the witches on the continent while playing professional Quidditch.

Rose found the kitchen in a mess, a shattered cup was spread across the floor with a pool of cold tea. A stained roll of parchment lay on the floor. On the table lay the remains of yesterday's evening meal, cold and untouched. Rose bent down and picked up the parchment.

_Dear Mrs. Weasley_

_We regret to inform you that your husband Ron Bilius Weasley and his partner Harry James Potter were killed in the course of their duties. Due to, the nature of, the case they were on. I regret to inform you that the Ministry cannot at this time realise your husband's and Mr. Potter's bodies for burial. We the department offer our deepest condolences._

_Yours Sincerely_

_Jacob P. Wordsworth_

_Duty Sergeant, Auror Corps._

_PS. Can you pass on this letter to Mrs. Potter as at present we have not been able to contact her._

Rose gasped in shock as the parchment fluttered to the floor from her grasp. Wordsworth the cold hearted bastard had sent a letter instead of sending someone to break the news. Rose was furious that Wordsworth had broken protocol, at least Hammond had followed protocol and informed herself correctly. Rose's eyes widened in shock as she realised that the remains of the meal on the table was yesterdays tea. She passed her wand over the parchment to find out how old it was. The charm said the letter was twelve hours old. _That meant mammy received the letter late yesterday evening _ she thought. At this her legs went out from under her as she realised that her mother had discovered the news about her father and her Uncle all alone and never contacted her. _Where was mammy?_ she thought. Rose pulled herself together and searched the ground floor of the house. The sitting room was spotless and nothing was amiss. With fear in her gut Rose climbed the stairs to check the upper floor. She first checked her old room and was surprised to find it just the way she left it seven years ago, when she moved out. Needless to say the room resembled a library with a bed seemingly out of place in the room. A framed Quidditch jersey was mounted on the wall taking up valuable shelve space. The jersey was signed by all the Quidditch stars for a charity drive over ten years ago. Her father had bought it and gave it to her. She always wondered why he didn't keep it in his room instead as he always looked longingly at it when he kissed her goodnight.

She checked Hugo's room next and discovered it was spotlessly clean a great change from its normal state of a pigsty, a complete mess. She never knew why her brother was so untidy, just the symptom of being male she guessed. She was surprised to see the raunchy posters of the Holyhead Harpies still on the wall. A topless witch scowled down at Rose when she realised that the person who opened the door was female. The do not enter sign was removed from the outside of the door. Rose gasped in shock as she realised that her brother objectified women. Hurriedly she fled the room and focused on the task of finding her mother. The bathroom door was ajar and Rose gave the room a quick glance, empty. That left her parents room.

With her skin crawling with dread Rose entered her parents room and discovered that it was as she expected her parents room to look. The last time she was in the room was when she was five and sick. Her father did not like her or her brother entering the room, why she never knew or suspected. On one wall was a framed Chudley Cannons poster with the legend Champions 2020 over it. Rose always wondered was her Uncle behind the mysterious buyer that turned the team's fortunes around? The club was bought in 2010 and it took ten long and hard years for the club to advance up the table and be crowned number one. The club was lucky in gaining the sponsorship of the Nimbus Broom Company. Her father had never celebrated so hard. Her mother had confided in Rose that she was expecting a little brother or sister afterwards but her mother had suffered a miscarriage. Rose was fourteen at the time and did not realise the significance of what her mother was going through. Looking back she wondered what would cause a healthy woman to miscarry. On the other wall was her mothers writing desk and a small library of books. Another door led to a small En-suite which Rose found to be empty.

In dismay Rose went back to the stair landing and frowned when she noticed that the landing carpet was damp. She looked down and traced the water to the main bathroom. She slowly entered the main bathroom and gasped in shock as rose coloured water was overflowing from the bath. Rose had never noticed from her quick glance earlier. The water was collected in a special tank ward her mother had created. The ward tank was created when Rose and her brother were only babies and playing in the bath. Her mother would magically enlarge the bath and placed the tank as a precaution. The ward had failed and the bathroom floor was flooded with the water soaking into the carpet of the landing. Hermione Weasley lay in the old Victorian style bath, naked. Her skin was all pruned from being in the water too long. Each arm contained a deep laceration running from the elbow to the wrist and each inner thigh also had a very deep laceration running from her crotch to her knees. The analytical portion of Rose's mind distantly realised that her clever mother had decided that she wanted to die in under a minute. Rose's stomach rolled and rebelled, she just made it to the toilet bowl before her stomach heaved, with tears of grief streaming down her face Rose sobbed _Why_?

Now that Rose was in the bathroom she could hear the water gushing from the taps. It would appear that her mother had placed silencing charms on the room. Rose reached out and turned off the water. Her mother's hair was fanned out and hung from the back of the bath like a waterfall. Her hair was streaked with grey hairs the hair colour charms her mother used were wearing off as the caster was dead. Rose needed to check and cautiously reached out to find a pulse on Hermione's neck. The skin was cold and lifeless under Rose's touch. Rose's hand plunged into the blood stained water and found the plug and tugged. The bath slowly drained, the only sound came from the water sloshing in the pipes, the water going down the drain. Once the bath was empty Rose picked up a white towel to cover her mother when she saw a wad of parchment on the floor of the bath.

With a gentle flick of a wand Rose slowly levitated the wad of parchment and placed it in to the empty sink. Once that was done Rose turned back to the task of covering her mother. After Rose had completed the task of covering her mother, she slumped to the wet floor exhausted and emotionally drained.

After a while, the feeling of being wet filtered into Rose's consciousness and drove her into action. Rose crawled to her feet and spotted the wad of parchment. It reminded her of an incident back in Hogwarts. Rose was in fifth year and a second year student had bumped into her while they were beside the lake. A piece of Transfiguration homework ended up in the water and was ruined. Rose summoned the parchment back and screamed in frustration. The assignment was ruined and would have to be redone. Luckily her mother was visiting the school that day and had seen the whole thing. She told Rose to calm down and had cast a spell on the parchment that dried the parchment and returned the parchment back to its original state before it went into the water. Rose hugged her mother in thanks at having saved her homework. After calming down Rose demanded to be taught the spell. Hermione smiled and readily agreed.

Rose brandished her wand and uttered the incantation her mother had taught her. The wad of wet parchment glowed before slowly unfurling. After the glow faded a dry sheet of parchment was left in the sink. With trepidation Rose slowly reached out and picked it up.

_Dear Rose,_

_I know my dear it will be you who finds me as Hugo is still in Europe chasing his dream. I am sorry for leaving you this way. My other half is dead. I wish to join him. I am sorry for never telling you the truth face to face. I am sorry for leaving you to find the truth in my old diaries. I am sorry. I am sorry Rosie for leaving like this, it hurts so much. My diaries can be found in my old school trunk, the password is: __**I solemnly swear I am up to no good**__. My final wish is to be buried with my other half, so that we can be whole again._

_I love you and I am sorry._

_Mum._

'No!' whispered Rose in shock as she let the letter fall to the floor.

The ink started to smear on the parchment as it lay in the water. In a daze Rose stood up and went into her parents' bedroom to find her mother's trunk and some answers. She found the old battered trunk in the foot of her mother's wardrobe underneath an old blanket. The trunk was the one her mother had used when she had attended Hogwarts all those years ago. The trunk opened when she jabbed her wand into the lock and uttered the password. The contents of the trunk consisted of small leather bound books and a few other odds and ends Rose did not recognise. The colours of the books were blue, black and dark brown.

Rose opened the first book that came to hand and discovered that it was a journal of when her mother was seven. It appeared to be her first ever diary as the first passage said she was gifted the diary from her grandmother, Rose Puckle. Hermione's grandmother was of the opinion that all little girls needed a diary to keep their thoughts and feelings in and at seven Hermione was old enough to start. Rose thought that her mother had very neat handwriting at that early age. She put the journal down on the floor and picked up another diary at random.

This one began when Hermione was twelve and attending Hogwarts. The first entry was November the first and it was her mother's account of the infamous Troll incident. Rose put the diary aside to read later as she wanted to find out if her mother's first year at Hogwarts was much different than her own experiences. As Rose sorted through the diaries she felt compiled to open certain books in particular. The first of those books opened onto a well marked page.

The page was wrinkled and smeared by tear drop stains. Rose's eyes widened as she read an account of her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's marriage. The main text gave an accurate account of what happened as retold many times by her father. A loving couple on their special day. How the day was wonderful. The day had been sunny and the weather perfect. The bride was in a wonderfully expensive white dress that made her appear to be an angel. Much of the text was underwritten in red ink. Rose realised that the writing in red ink was done by a mature hand. It was as if her mother had revised her diary many years after the events recorded. In the original record her mother was happy for her uncle and aunt on their big day.

Rose's eyes widened in disbelief as she read the revisions in the red ink. According to the corrections her mother loved her Uncle Harry more than her father. The main reason Hermione had been happy was that she could see that Harry was happy. That was all that mattered to Hermione. That must be wrong thought Rose. As she read more it got worse. Hermione implied in this passage of corrections that love potions were involved and that Grandma Weasley was behind it. _But Grandma Weasley was a kind old lady wasn't she?_ Rose thought. As Rose read the original passage along with the passage in red she was beginning to see that there was a bond of some sort between her mother and her Uncle Harry. At the wedding reception her mother and uncle must have been given something as during the ceremony, Hermione was quiet and Harry responded stiffly to his vows. With rising dread Rose put the diary down to see how bad it became and moved to another diary.

The new diary opened to a well read section. It was the day she was born. In the original draft it listed what she was always told happened. How her father was there when she was born and he had passed out at the sight of her crowning from her mothers body. But according to the new section in red, Ron was late getting to the birth and her Uncle Harry had to help her mother out. Harry was supposed to be on assignment for work but he knew instinctively that Hermione was all alone for her first child and had come unannounced. Hermione had a difficult birth and Harry had offered his magic to help the mother and child. In some rare cases the magic of the child and mother were so closely interwoven that the separation caused by birth was fatal. Harry's intervention had saved her mother's life. Ron had only managed to get to the hospital two days after Hermione had given birth. Rose gasped in shock when she had learned that her Uncle Harry had helped her mother name her Rose Jean Weasley. As she knew she was named after her Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. But she now knew that it was also in honour of Harry's mother Lily. Harry's mother was named after a flower and so was she also named after a flower. Rose paled as she read how her mother, Hermione, had suffered post natal depression. Her father, Ron, had never understood and her grandmother, Molly, was no help claiming that Hermione should be happy that she was now a mother. Hermione's own mother was distant after learning that Hermione had played with her memories and sent her to Australia. Harry was the only person who understood and helped her mother through those tough months, even though he could only visit once a week. Rose was beginning to understand what her mother's life and sacrifices were like.

Rose again went for another diary, again it opened to a particular section. The journal entry was just over two months since the Cannons had won the league. Hermione had just seen a Healer and was told she was pregnant with her third child. Hermione was bursting to tell someone so she told Rose. Rose's eyes widened she had remembered her mother acting strange as she was told the happy news. The only correction in red listed that one week later Hermione discovered that Ron had been unfaithful and had been sleeping with Lavender Finnegan nee Brown for almost a year at that point. By this point Hermione had learnt that she had been on a regimen of love potions since she had been fifteen and could not break the potion's hold over her. As Hermione had been on love potions for so long, the shock of Ron's infidelity caused Hermione's magic to have an adverse reaction to the news. Hermione' magic had rebelled at the infidelity and Hermione miscarried and ended up in St. Mungo's for three weeks. Ron was oblivious to his wife's condition. Harry visited Hermione two hours after she was admitted to St. Mungo's. Hermione wept as she revealed all to Harry how she had learnt that their lives were controlled by Molly Weasley so that Ron and Ginny could be happy. Ginny with The-Boy-Who-Lived and Ron with a woman to look after his kids. Unfortunately Rose's mother and uncle could not break the conditioning as Professor Dumbledore had used the Elder Wand to set the backup compulsion charms that controlled her mother and Uncle Harry even as they learnt the truth of the situation. All this meant that even though Ron was unfaithful, Hermione could not break the conditioning and be with the one she wanted to be with all her life.

Rose found that there was only one diary left with a compulsion charm on it. It was yesterday's entry. The entry charted Hermione's feelings of dread from when she woke up yesterday morning and the minor elation she felt at being free to pursue the man she wanted. Unfortunately that feeling was short lived as not half a minute later she felt gut wrenching numbness. It was only when Hermione received that terrible letter from the Ministry that she had learnt that her husband and then Harry had died. She would never get a chance to follow her own dreams and wishes, She had been forced to live Molly's dreams and bear Ron's children. Hermione just wanted to be loved and tolearn, was that so much to ask? Rose slumped to the floor of her mother's bedroom in shocked dismay as she realised that she was not the result of a loving couple as she had always thought. In a daze Rose got up and left the house in disgust. Rose found that she needed to leave and get away, it was all too much to take in.

Rose walked around the neighbourhood aimlessly for an hour. When her mind cleared somewhat after all that she had learned she found herself stood at a very busy junction. The road was one of the busy arteries into London and as such the road had a forty mile an hour speed limit. Rose was contemplating walking in front of a speeding lorry or bus. Her world was rent asunder, she had no one left that cared for her, her Uncle Harry was dead, her father whom she had learnt was unfaithful was also dead. She believed what she had read in her mother's diary as various strange occurrences clicked to form a very bad image of her father. Her mother had committed suicide, which she could still could not comprehend. Her brother was a playboy only worried about himself and getting his end away. She had no friends, all her Hogwarts classmates had drifted away, too caught up in their own lives. Her only companion was her familiar, Sebastian. She was now beginning to find an inclination on why she could never find a loving boyfriend. She decided. She looked left then right. A cement mixer was approaching the junction, rushing to the next building site. The light was green for the vehicle. As the lorry came within ten feet, Rose walked out in front of it. She knew that the lorry would not be able to stop in time. Her last thought was that she would see her mother soon, and that was all that mattered.

'I don't think so, I have a job for you.' grunted a male voice as Rose felt the familiar squeeze of apparation.

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Rose's nostrils were flooded with a foul stench as the male released her after he had apparated the pair away from danger. Rose backed away in shock and revulsion, her stomach was rebelling from the smell emanating from the shabbily dressed man. The man smelt like he had slept in a gutter. His breath was rank with liquor. Rose ignored the man to look around. She found herself alone with the man in a circular grey room with hundreds of doors along the curved wall. The floor was tiled in grey slate and the ceiling was obscured by a dull grey mist above her head. Rose brandished her wand as she backed away from the man.

'Who are you?' Rose demanded.

'I am Fate's Messenger, and I have a job for you.' replied the old drunk in a gravelly voice.

'You look like a street wretch, and you want me to believe that you are a messenger from Fate?' Rose scoffed.

'Yes!' The man replied as he gestured at his body and explained further; 'This man tried to save your life as you walked out in front of the lorry. He pushed you out of the way and got struck by that same lorry. Unfortunately for him, you were struck by a speeding car that he did not see. The car was being pursued by the Police. Needless to say, you both are dead. The man has been sent to be judged, his good deed will weigh in his favour. You on the other hand are another matter entirely. I have borrowed his body to talk to you.'

'What do I call you?' asked Rose as she processed the strange statement.

The messenger frowned but did not reply. Rose sighed and asked, 'What is your name?'

'I don't have one as I have no need for such a thing as a label, you can call me Bob or Max if you must. My name is not the issue at hand.' replied the messenger in annoyance.

'Fine I will call you Bob, so, Bob, why did you interfere?' asked Rose in annoyance.

'Well you decided to end your miserable existence, so Fate decided, that since you did not value your existence she would make better use of you and give you the job to fix this mess.' said Bob with a malicious grin on his face.

'What! What mess? What do you mean?' responded Rose.

'Your Mother and Uncle Harry were supposed to bring about change in your society. Fate would have preferred it if they had ended up with each other and not Ginny and Ron. They would have been a powerful couple for change and they would have modernised the Magical society in Britain. Unfortunately a nosy busybody and a manipulative old bastard had other ideas. Your Uncle Harry defeated Riddle and nothing changed. Society was still the same after the war and the sheep returned to their normal lives. Your mother married Ron, and her dreams and ambitions were neutered so that her husband could shine in the limelight. Fate's plan was for Harry to support his equal partner, Hermione, in her endeavours to bring about equality, alas that did not happen and a new Dark Lord is gaining supporters. If Fate's plan had come to fruition the Wizarding world could have looked forward to at least two hundred years of peace and prosperity, advances would have been made in the understanding of magic and it's intricacies. You have learnt a small understanding from your brilliant mother who was unfairly shackled by an overbearing biddy.' explained Bob.

'What, you are saying that my mother did not love me?' exclaimed Rose in grief.

'Are you daft woman, it is not in your mother's nature to _not_ love you. While your mother realised near the end that she loved your Uncle, she _always_ loved you deeply. You were born of her and thus she loved you dearly. You were the bright spot in her life after she learnt of all the betrayals. When your mother was young she held authority in very high regards as she did not relate to her peers. Dumbledore abused that trust by manipulating her and using her to advance his plans.' replied Bob.

'So you are saying she loved me even though in the end she was sorry to be married to my daddy?' queried Rose.

'Yes that is it exactly, and it will be your job to fix the problem.' responded Bob as he rubbed his hands together in glee.

'What?' exclaimed Rose.

'Fate has decided to send you back in time to help your mother and Harry. You have two options. The first is refuse and go on for judgement and likely be damned, or hear the rules and help your mother and Uncle Harry. But choose quickly as time is running out.' declared Bob as he pulled out a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag and drank the contents.

Rose gasped as she heard her options, go back in time and change things, likely wiping herself from existence or go on and be judged. The second option sounded ominous and the first option allowed her to help her mum after all the times she helped her. She decided to go back in time.

'Good. There are a couple of rules for your trip. As you decided to kill yourself at the age of twenty five, we can only give you another twenty five years from the time of insertion in the old time stream. That means that the oldest you will ever age is fifty years. Your old timeline is destroyed, everyone you ever knew or loved is gone, as when you go back the ripples will have drastically changed the present. You can tell no one about the future and you should _not_ rely on your knowledge of future events, your involvement will change the outcome. Let nature bring your mother and Harry together. Under no circumstances should you use any methods to manipulate the outcome. Potions were used in the original timeline that resulted in this mess, so potions are _not_ going to fix it this time. If in the course of time they don't end up together, at least it will be as nature intends, your job is to make sure no outside influences occur. Understood?' stated Bob.

Rose nodded.

'You will be sent back to 1986. As this was the first time both your mother and Harry were conscious of doing accidental magic. You will be provided with documentation to show that you are Harry's guardian. All that is required is your signature and the Dursleys'. This should not be difficult for a witch of your talents. A residence will be provided on the street your mother lived on at that age. You will need to acquire employment, suitable documentation will be provided to show your qualifications are valid in 1986. Your job is to teach young Harry and Hermione magic from your residence in the years leading up to 1991. Thereafter it will be your job to supplement their Hogwarts education to bring it up to par, to a standard required by Fate. This standard is required so that they can bring change to the magical world.' explained Bob.

Rose frowned as she wondered what exactly she was supposed to teach a seven and six year old.

'Just enter that door there to be on your way.' directed Bob as he gestured to a door behind her.

Rose turned around and walked to the curved wall and reached out to open a door.

'No, two doors to your left.' instructed a frustrated Bob.

Rose opened the door and stepped through.

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AN: Please Review


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Notes:

The following story is based on situations and characters owned by J.K. Rowling and/or her publishers/WB.

If I owned the characters and situation I'd be filthy rich and the ending would be completely different. :p

Spoilers for all seven books including the vile OBWF and crapilogue. :(

Warnings: Character deaths and scenes of suicide.

Thanks to my Proof reader: Tumshie and Muggledad

Thanks to IronChefOR for the use of Hermione's address in this story, it comes from his wonderful story _**Their Way **_found on Portkey and FF.n

He says that he has not abandoned it, " _The last year and a half have been difficult for me, to say the least, so while I have not been able to provide any updates, I have promised myself at least that I will not give up on it._"

Chapter Two

**Monday, Third of November, Nineteen Eighty Six.**

Rose shivered awake, the room was just beginning to brighten with pre-dawn light. She hoped that it had been all a very bad dream. She hoped that her mother and father were alive and well. That her favourite uncle, Harry, was well. That it had all been a nightmare. Goosebumps spread across her skin from the cold air of the room. Rose frowned, normally she wore a cotton nightie to bed and slept under her duvet. She shivered again from the cold as she surveyed the room, from her position on top of the bed she could see that all the furniture in the room was covered by dustsheets. The white lace over the window was a dull grey colour from the dust. Her skin itched from lying upon a coarse dustsheet under her body. Rose sat up in shock, this was not her bedroom.

She appeared to be all alone in the room. There were no clothes strung about the place. Her hand went to her neck by force of habit and found the pendant her mother gave her when she was six years old. It slowly dawned on her she was naked save for the pendant in a strange bedroom. She was forced to forget her situation temporarily as her body decided that her bladder needed to be emptied immediately. Rose bolted from the bed towards the only door in the room.

The bedroom door opened out on to a short dark corridor. The air was stale and dusty. Rose tried three doors before finding the bathroom. After taking care of business she decided to tackle her problem. Rose frowned as she went to wash her hands, no water came from the taps, that was strange as the toilet flushed, but now that she listened the toilet cistern was silent. The tank was not filling again after the flush. Rose tried the handle again and heard the mechanism but no sound of rushing water.

She left the bathroom and tried the light switch out in the corridor and found that the light bulb stayed dark. Rose realised that she was in a vacant house with no water and no electricity. she must be in a muggle neighbourhood due to the services evident by their state of being switched off. Rose wondered where the house was, what county or country?

Rose went back to the bedroom she awoke in, to see if she could find out how or why she was in a deserted house, naked. The bedroom was as she left it, dusty and quiet. She guessed from the light coming in the window that it was early morning.

The room had a queen sized bed with two bedside lockers at the head of the bed. There was a free standing wardrobe covered by a dustsheet. A chest of drawers, small armchair and a coat rack completed the suite of furniture. Rose reached up and pulled the dustsheet off of the wardrobe. A coughing fit ensued from the bellow of the dust cloud emitted by the dustsheet. The wardrobe appeared to be made from mahogany. When she checked the wardrobe's interior she found it empty bar for a couple of empty wire coat hangers.

Next she tried the chest of drawers, another cloud of dust issued from the cloth covering the chest of drawers. The chest of drawers matched the wardrobe in colour and design, obviously part of a set. Rose groaned in dismay when each drawer was found to be empty, she turned to the bed and found a brown cardboard box sitting beside where she had fallen asleep.

Rose climbed up onto the bed, sat on her ankles and reached out to open the box On top of a pile of documents she found three wands. Rose sighed in relief as she picked up her own wand from the box. With a sigh of relief, Rose swished it through the air and it emitted red sparks. She quickly cast spells to make the air in the room fresh and banished the now clean dustsheets from the furniture. The dustsheets neatly folded themselves and lay on the floor. The bed under her was just the mattress and the mahogany bed frame.

Rose identified one of the other wands as her mother's. The wand looked old and well used. The last one was difficult to identify at first, but it slowly dawned on her that she knew who the owner was. It was her Uncle Harry's wand. Rose shivered again from the cold as her breath came out in clouds. Rose decided that she need to conjure or transfigure some clothes. She set about transfiguring one of the dustsheets into a more skin friendly cloth such as cotton or silk.

Once that was done she transfigured the cloth into a comfortable witch's robe. She felt much more comfortable now that she was no longer naked. Rose returned to the cardboard box and removed the first document. It was her new identification, she was registered as Rose Jane Grey. Her new date of birth was listed as sixth of July, nineteen sixty one. It hit her she had not awoken from a nightmare, it was all real. Her mother was dead, her father was dead, they were all dead. She would never see her brother again. As these realizations came home, Rose broke down and wept.

After a while Rose was finished crying. She wiped her bloodshot eyes and put down the folder containing her new identity as Rose Grey. She went back to the box and removed the next document, it was her school records re-dated to show that she had had achieved her N.E.W.T's in seventy nine. Rose frowned that according to the documentation she was home schooled. The results were identical to her real results from twenty, twenty two. She was relieved that the documents showed the results that she had earned. She put the exam results aside and gasped when she spotted some muggle A Level results. The A levels were in English, Maths and Physics. All were A's she knew from her mother that those were the equivalent of Outstanding in magical education.

The third document was adoption papers for one Harry James Potter. Rose set it aside to study later. The last item in the box was a letter addressed to her.

_Hello Rose,_

_The house you find yourself in is yours for the duration of the mission. The address of your new abode is number twenty three, Merton Road, Wandsworth, London. The deeds and other legal documents are downstairs on the kitchen table. The house has some wards provided by Fate. They are stronger than Lily's blood wards upon number four Privet Drive. Instructions are also provided if you wish to transfer those wards to this residence. Please note that you will need Harry's consent to achieve this. If you decide to omit Lily's blood ward transference you will have early annoyance with the manipulative old bastard. Your goal should be to avoid undue attention from Hogwarts or the Ministry until the summer of 1991. Fate will help in this regard by disguising Harry's change of address until the Hogwarts letters are sent out, by then it will be too late._

_Sorry dear that you found yourself naked in the house the magics involved would only allow living tissue to travel in time. The box was delivered seconds before you arrived. Your mother was a brilliant witch, and gifted you with a pendant that protected your thoughts from all sorts of mind magic. At the time she suspected some of your teachers of possibly using mind magic on you, so crafted that little pendant around your neck. As you have worn it for almost nineteen years, the pendant's magic became entwined with your magical core. It is the sole reason that it was the only object to survive the ravages of time travel. It would be an excellent idea if you gifted Harry and this time frame's Hermione with similar pendants. You mother's notes are provided so that you can craft them. Please give them to the children before the end of the year. Your mother lives with her parents at number eight Broomhill Road, it is the street running parallel to number twenty three. _

_You will find that the house has some of the best wards over the house and back garden, use it to train Harry and Hermione. You will find enrolment papers to the local school that Hermione is enrolled into, it would be best that Harry attend the same school. Please have a word with his teachers, he needs help as in his current school he is hiding his talents as he does not want to appear better than his oafish cousin. It is two weeks after both children became aware of accidental magic. Harry has turned a teachers hair colour to blue. Hermione magically restored one of her books to normal after one of the other children scribbled all over the pages in crayon._

_Remember that you cannot inform anyone that you are from the future. Also do not rely on knowledge of how things are supposed to happen. The very nature of enrolling Harry in a new school and informing the teachers of Harry's problems means that come the time he attends Hogwarts he will be much more confident and not as likely to be controlled by the old coot of a Headmaster._

_Be aware that Harry so far has lived as a house-elf for his relatives. Give him a childhood but do not hide his heritage from him or the destiny that is hanging over him._

_For your information the date you arrived at your new abode is the third of November 1986. _

_Best of luck,_

_I will be in touch,_

_Bob,_

_Fate's Messenger._

_PS, you will find a small stipend on the kitchen table to get started._

Rose sighed after she finished reading the letter from Bob. She now knew where her mother lived as a child, she had been told the story that her grandparents had moved to Australia shortly after Hermione had finished Hogwarts. Rose loved travelling out to Australia to visit them. Her Grandfather had died when she was thirteen and her Grandmother had died four years later. Rose came out of her funk and replaced the papers back into the box along with her mother and Harry's wands. Once that was done she carefully replaced the lid and placed the box at the foot of the bed. Rose waved her wand as she cast a detection spell to see if she could determine the wards placed upon the house. She gasped in shock at the strength and subtlety of the wards that was revealed by the spell.

The first ward was upon the fabric of the building protecting the interior from any and all attacks. A second ward was layered that prevented all forms of magical transport except for the Floo connection downstairs and a person keyed into the wards. Rose discovered that at present she was the only person keyed to the wards. A third ward further out shielded the street from the Ministry's magic detectors, effectively converting the street into a pure-blood estate in the eyes of the Ministry. Any witch or wizard of any age could perform magic and the Ministry would never know. Rose realised why that ward was there she could teach her mother outside of the house along with Harry.

The fourth ward made sure that the muggles were oblivious of the magic occurring in front of their noses. Rose had never seen such wards before. She managed to identify six more wards but could not determine what they were for or what they did.

Rose sagged on to the bed drained from casting her ward revealing spell. After sitting down for five minutes Rose decided to explore the house, her house.

In her earlier haste she gave the rooms quick glances she was more worried at the time of finding a loo. She discovered that the room she was in had no en-suite. The door led to a corridor with six doors off of it and the top of a stair. Rose discovered that there were four bedrooms including the one she arrived in. The bathroom and the sixth door led to a staircase that led to a large single room in the eaves of the roof. Rose retraced her steps and went downstairs, she found a large kitchen, dining room and sitting room. However her eyes lit up when she found a library come study.

She was stunned to find that the library was stocked with books both magical and mundane. The magical books covered a wide array of topics. Rose smiled in relief when she spotted the Hogwarts reading list in the shelves of books. The library was protected by a battery of wards, preserving the precious books. She was pulled from the room by her body's grumbling stomach. She entered the kitchen and found the sack of gold mentioned in Bob's letter.

Ignoring the sack of money for now she searched the cupboards for some food but she found that they were bare. Their wasn't even any delph or utensils, the presses were completely empty. All that was in the kitchen was the sink and the presses. Rose groaned as she realised that she would need to buy some kitchen appliances such as a cooker and fridge. Rose returned to the sack on the table and loosened the drawstring. She opened the neck of the bag and discovered that the bag was magical and bottomless. She reached in and withdrew a fist full of Galleons.

Her stomach grumbled again, she felt weak with hunger. The empty kitchen made her mind up, she would have to eat out. Rose left the kitchen to leave the house through the front door. The view through the frosted glass of the front door indicated that the weather was atrocious, The sky was slate grey in colour and the heavens opened up and a deluge of water was failing. Rose let out a sigh as she saw the wind whip the rain at the windows, she did not fancy leaving the dry house. It struck her, the ward revealing spell indicated a Floo connection, so Rose checked the sitting room and found a magnificent fireplace covered by a dustsheet.

The sitting room was like all the other rooms in the house, the furniture was covered by dustsheets. Rose waved her wand and the dustsheet covering the fireplace folded itself and lay gently on the wooden floor that was warm underfoot. Rose found a sheet of parchment on top of a pot of Floo Powder beside the hearth. The parchment said.

_Grey Residence_

_Password: Books and cleverness. _

Rose smiled when she read the password it was like something her mother would have picked as a Floo password. She decided to leave it alone for now. With a flick of her wrist a fire roared to life on the grate. With sack of gold and wand in hand, Rose picked up a pinch of Floo Powder and said Leaky Caldron as she stepped into the green flames.

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Rose stumbled as she left the Floo and stubbed her toe on the flagstone floor of the Leaky Caldron. She hobbled towards the bar and ordered a bowl of soup and some bread. As she ate the meal the other patrons stared quizzically at her from her state of dress. She was wearing a strangely cut robe made of silk which was periwinkle blue in colour. Her feet were bare and her stubbed toe was throbbing. Her hair was wild and windblown, it needed attention from a brush.

She used the facilities before she left the pub for Diagon Alley. Her first port of call was Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions for some clothes. She did not want to go to Twilfit & Tatting's as it was very conservative in the fashion that the shop stocked. Rose made a beeline for the counter when she entered the shop. She was relieved to see that it was empty of customers, Madam Malkin looked up as Rose approached the counter.

'Hello dear can I help.' enquired Madam Malkin.

Rose nodded and then spun a hopefully convincing story. 'Hello, I need a complete wardrobe as a fire destroyed the house while I was in the potions lab. I got out of the house and had to strip out of all of my clothes because the potion I was working on was corrosive and it was eating through my work wear. I managed to transfigure some clothes from some knick knacks, as you can see I did a poor job of it. I have just come from my vault with a sack of gold, so I can pay.'

'Oh, you poor dear!' exclaimed Madam Malkin.

'Can we please keep this between us women, I am very embarrassed.' said a rosy cheeked Rose.

'Of course, dear, just sit down there, have a cuppa and we will get started.' said Madam Malkin as she waved her wand and a selection of clothes floated towards Rose for her inspection.

Two hours later Rose left feeling much more comfortable and warm now that she had some basic underwear on and she was shielded from the cold. Madam Malkin had kindly given Rose a ten percent discount as she felt sorry for her. Rose decided that after she was finished in Diagon Alley she would pad out her wardrobe with some muggle clothes.

After she left Madam Malkin's, Rose worked through her shopping list of magical items, Potions ingredients, Floo Powder, An Owl for magical post and also as a new familiar. When she thought of getting a new familiar she felt a pang of loss for Sebastian, her half Kneazle familiar. She hoped that someone would care for him. None of the Kneazles of half breed appealed to her in Magical Menagerie so she went to Eeylops Owl Emporium for an Owl. The Owl was brown with some blonde highlights, Rose named him Bruno. She did not need to get books as the library was stocked with some very rare tomes.

Once she finished her shopping she returned to the pub and asked Tom the barman to use his Floo. After Tom agreed she left her shopping home and swiftly returned to the pub. Bruno was disgruntled at being left behind at the house in a cage, Rose apologised and promised to let him out later. From there she entered muggle London and went shopping for clothes and appliances for the house. Buying the clothes was easy and fun.

Rose felt liberated, she could try on clothes she would never have considered before. In the past she had emulated her mother's sense of fashion and was loath to experiment. She was more worried about good grades in school than the latest fashion, and work wear was very regimented. But she had seen many girls and young women wearing strange and exciting fashion on the streets of London, so had decided to join in and experiment. Her peers would have been surprised at her adventurous side, besides no one knew her here.

That thought sat ill with her. She loved the fact that she had just bought a bag like the one her mother used in the war with her Uncle Harry. It meant that she could bring a lot of shopping bags with her. The muggle appliances would be delivered to her house tomorrow. She decided to explore the neighbourhood around the house when she finished her shopping in London.

Rose returned to the house late that Monday evening, she sighed when she realised that she had forgotten to stock her kitchen presses with food. She looked at the clock in the hall, it read quarter past six. It was too late to go back out. The house was dark as the power was still switched off. Rose lit her wand and started to pack away her new clothes in the bedroom she awoke in. She decided to review the adoption papers and reviewed Bob's plan for getting Harry away from the Dursleys. She decided that she would rescue Harry tomorrow. Today's shopping trip had been a good distraction from the reality of her situation.

As Rose decided to go to sleep she groaned, she had forgotten to buy some bed linen. Rose gathered up some of the folded dust sheets and transfigured some bed sheets and some warm blankets to ward off the cold November air. It took Rose half an hour to complete that feat; she collapsed into the bed exhausted.

Even though she was exhausted from all she had done today sleep did not come easily. The gravity of her situation came crashing down on her. Everything today had gone wrong, she had forgotten important items on her shopping expedition. Her mother had helped her move into her flat when she had left the nest. She felt depressed and alone here in the past. Her parents and Uncle Harry were dead. She was now stuck forty four years in the past all alone. Tomorrow she would become a parent to a six year old boy with the weight of a prophecy on his young shoulders. She did not know how she was going to cope, her usual source of comfort and support was her mother who in this time was only a seven year old girl. Rose wept at her situation she eventually drifted off to a troubled sleep.

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Rose awoke to the sunlight filtering in through the lace drapes covering the window. A tempus charm revealed that it was half nine in the morning. Rose got up and got dressed, the room was the same one she woke up in yesterday which meant that yesterday was not a dream. Rose checked her kitchen cupboards once again, empty. She decided to explore Wandsworth and see if she could find the nearest Supermarket. With a grumbling stomach, Rose happily stumbled onto a little corner café serving breakfast.

Once her belly was full, Rose could now concentrate on her morning chores of finding food and squaring the house before Harry came to live with her. Rose found a Sainsbury's and bought all the essentials for the house as well as food. She hailed a taxi back to the house as she had too many bags of groceries to carry. She decided against using magic outside of the house until she knew the lay of the land. In her experience taxi drivers were a source of information. Rose grilled her taxi driver on a good plumber that could come and check the house's pipe work.

By early afternoon Rose had the electricity and water turned back on. She was expecting a delivery of kitchen appliances to arrive soon. In the meantime she refined her plans on how to rescue Harry. Once the deliveries were made, Rose tidied the house from top to bottom. The house was now spotless. The last thing Rose done before leaveing for Privet Drive was to prepare Harry's bedroom, She hoped he liked it.

Harry would move into a largish bedroom with a single bed and locker in one corner of the room. On the opposite wall was a small table for homework and as a play space. Beside the table was a large shelving unit for toys and books. Beside the bedroom door was a wardrobe.

Rose went for a walk, she was looking for a place to hail the Knight Bus. She had decided to use the bus to make the journey from Wandsworth to Surrey.

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Vernon Dursley parked his burgundy Austin Montego on his drive. He wanted the boss's black Rover 3500 SE but sales of drilling equipment were not picking up as expected. The Germans were making better drills, the sales reps were losing sales to Hilti and Bosch on the construction sites. The rumours from management were that if sales did not pick up as expected, there would be a few redundancies made. Vernon was concerned he may be one of them but he would not tell Petunia of his fears.

The sound of the rain pelting on the roof of the car was deafening. Vernon got soaked from waddling the short distance from the driveway to the front door. He wondered why he did not buy number twenty three down the street with the attached garage. Right now with this downpour, if he owned twenty three he wouldn't be wet, as he could have parked the car inside the garage and not got wet.

The boy was in the kitchen standing in front of the cooker. The smell of fried sausages and rashers were mouth watering. Petunia arrived from the living room giving out that Vernon was dripping on to her clean floors. Vernon ignored her, the boy would clean the floors anyway. Vernon waddled up the stairs to change out of his wet clothes. Vernon passed Dudley's room on his way to change, little Duddykins was playing with his toys. After a stressful day at the office Vernon's stresses were slowly ebbing away.

Downstairs a small underfed boy was frying up his relative's meal. The meal consisted of fried sausages, black and white pudding, rashers and some fried mushrooms. The little boy had to stand on his tippy toes to be able to control the food in the frying pan. Grease splattered his circular spectacles. He removed them and tried to wipe off the grease but the lenses only smeared up worse. He had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead that never seemed to heal. It occasionally felt wet as if it was bleeding. This evening it was itchy as the boy had his hands full. In his left hand he held the lid of the frying pan trying to keep the cooker top clean and in his right hand he held a fork for turning the sausages so they would brown evenly. Warming in the oven were three plates.

The boy's name was Harry Potter, he had learned his name when he started school last year, his classmates had found it funny that the boy in the scruffy clothes didn't know what his name was. His relatives only called him Boy or Freak. He had been told that his parents were drunken layabouts that died in a car crash and that he was dumped on them. Harry wished for a loving family but was wise enough to realise that was unlikely to happen. Harry's thoughts drifted back to the task at hand, preparing his relative's meal, Harry's belly grumbled in protest as he prepared the tea. The meal was almost ready so Harry carefully dived out the food on to three plates. Vernon bellowed at Harry to hurry up with the tea as he was hungry. Vernon had just come thundering down the stairs demanding to know where his supper was. Harry carefully took a plate from the counter and brought it to his uncle. Vernon went to clip Harry across the ears for not having it on the table before he had finished changing out of his wet clothes but Harry ducked at the last second almost dropping the plate of food. As it was the plate hit the salt shaker and sent the contents across the table.

"Boy, go to your room. You can't do something simple can you?" bellowed Vernon.

Harry turned to bring out the other two plates but Vernon's next below stopped him in his tracks.

"Boy, your room now." Vernon roared as he pointed at the door under the stairs.

Harry's shoulders drooped as he changed direction and he moved towards the stairs. He opened the door on the cupboard under the stairs and crawled inside and pulled the door after himself. As he settled in for the night he thought that this would be the third night in a row that he hadn't eaten. Harry cried himself to sleep wondering what it would have been like if his mother and father were alive.

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Vernon settled into the settee to watch the television. Petunia came in from the kitchen with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray, her woman's magazine was rolled up and held by an elastic band. Petunia poured two cups and settled down to read. Dudley was upstairs playing in his play room, the freak was in his press under the stairs. Vernon sipped his tea as he flicked through the TV channels, he found a Chuck Norris film on ITV and settled in to watch it. The film was "An Eye for an Eye" it was the British television premiere.

Vernon was just settled in for the night when there came a knock from the front door. Vernon grumbled about who could that be this evening, he was looking forward to watching Chuck Norris killing a lot of bad guys in the picture. He glanced at the clock, it read half past nine, bloody nosy busybodies he ranted. Petunia sighed and put down her magazine and went to see who it could be. Vernon's attention returned to Chuck Norris killing a mook on the screen.

"Vernon, we have a visitor, dear." spoke Petunia quietly as she returned from the front door with a woman in tow.

Vernon groaned, he would miss the film and it looked to be a good one. Vernon turned to look at who the visitor was. A woman with auburn hair and brown eyes stood there, Vernon lustily looked her over. Vernon thought that she was a beautiful looking bird. She reminded him of one of his secretaries at work. She had a very fine figure and a lovely face. Vernon guessed she was in her early twenties. He began to wonder why she had called at the house.

"Mr. Dursley, my name is Rose Grey. It has been decided that this is not the best environment for young Harry to grow up in. I have been given the responsibility of raising him. I have some paperwork for you and your wife to sign, if you please. It will only take a moment of your time, then you may return to your film." explained Rose as she handed Vernon the paperwork.

Vernon's eyes narrowed at the woman that knew his name, he stared at the paperwork stupidly before glaring at Rose and demanded, "What is this?"

"Mr. Dursley, that is the paperwork that transfers guardianship of Harry James Potter from you and your good wife to myself." answered Rose.

Petunia frowned, she was trying to remember something that she had read about the boy, but it was remaining elusive. Meanwhile Vernon realised that this was exactly what he was looking for, some fool to take stewardship of the freak. Vernon gave the document a cursory perusal. It looked to be a fairly thorough adoption, meaning that the freak would be Mrs. Grey's problem.

Vernon asked, "Where do I sign?"

Rose pointed out the places that needed his signature. He duly signed and passed the document to Petunia. Petunia looked at the document and took the pen off of Vernon but was reluctant to put pen to paper.

"What's wrong, pet? Just sign the paper and we will be rid of the brat." said Vernon.

Rose's eyes narrowed at Vernon's comment but she held her tongue.

"It feels. I don't know, wrong somehow." offered Petunia in explanation.

"But he was dumped on our doorstep with a flimsy letter. If now they have decided that he is to stay with Mrs. Grey. I say let her have him." said Vernon, more interested in watching the film. He considered the matter closed.

Petunia nodded reluctantly as she signed the paper and returned the document to Rose.

Rose separated the document into three sections. She hand over one section and said, "Your copy."

Rose the put the other two copies into a pocket of her coat. "Sorry for the late hour but can you get Harry and I will take him home with me."

Petunia looked concernedly at the cupboard under the stairs. She did not want the woman, Rose to know that Harry's current bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. She looked imploringly at Vernon as her mind could not come up with a suitable excuse for why the boy was locked into the cupboard.

Rose began to tap her foot impatiently, wondering why Petunia did not go upstairs and get Harry from his bedroom. She felt sorry for arriving late at number four but she had been nervous about meeting her Uncle as a youngster.

She knew from her mother and uncle that Harry's life at home before Hogwarts was difficult. He had said very little about his past and her mother had not broken any of his confidences. All Rose knew was that Harry was happy to leave Privet Drive behind. Her mother and father never spoke of her uncle's home life. She only knew about his adventures when he attended Hogwarts.

Petunia sighed when she realised that there was no way around the problem, Rose would find out how they treated the boy. She slumped her shoulders in shame as she went and opened the door to the press under the stairs. Harry had his back to the door and was curled into a ball. He was snoring lightly, the only other noise he made was the odd cough. Petunia grasped him on the shoulder, Harry awoke instantly and tried to move away from the touch.

"Come out, Harry" instructed Petunia.

Rose's mouth went slack as she realised the Harry was sleeping in the small space. Harry crawled out and timidly stood. He scrubbed his eyes with his fists before he put on his sellotape repaired glasses and blearily looked at the stranger.

Rose suddenly knew why she had been sent back in time. She suddenly understood her Uncle Harry a little better. Little things he did when she was young seemed overly kind, but now she knew that after his own childhood he did not want others to suffer as he had. Rose had instantly spotted young Harry's callused hands. The hands looked like they belonged to an adult labourer on a building site and not a young boy. It indicated that Harry was worked hard.

Rose did not like what she saw, Harry's clothes looked to be hanging off of him about three sizes too big for him. He looked malnourished. Rose was glad that she was taking him away from this place.

Rose ignored the Dursleys, and moved forward and knelt in front of Harry. Harry looked warily at Rose, Rose felt uncomfortable at being weighed up by a child.

After a short pause Harry said, "Hello."

Rose smiled and replied, "Hello, Harry, I am Rose Grey. I am your new guardian. If you want you will make your home with me."

Harry thought for a bit and asked timidly, "Will I get a bedroom like Dudley?"

Rose kept the smile on her face, keeping her anger at the Dursleys from her face, "No, your room will be better, would you like that?"

Harry nodded.

"Good, Harry, will you say something for me, please?" asked Rose.

Harry thought for a moment but felt deep down that he could trust the lady with the smiling face. Trusting that feeling he nodded, Rose smiled.

"Repeat after me, I, Harry James Potter want to make my home with Rose Jane Grey in number twenty three, Merton Road, Wandsworth, London." directed Rose.

Harry repeated the phrase and stumbled slightly over Merton. Rose felt the wards on number four change as Harry uttered the oath. Rose smiled at Harry and asked him to collect his belongings and wait at the front door. Rose debated in her mind what she should do about the Dursleys, what they had done through slavery and neglect amounted to child abuse. Rose knew that she should report them to the authorities, but if she did that Professor Dumbledore may find out that Harry no longer stayed with them. Rose steeled herself she knew what she must do, let the Dursleys escape punishment for now, when Harry was older she would come back and bring them to justice. Rose brandished her wand and wiped the last five minutes from Petunia and Vernon's mind.

The Dursleys knew that Harry had been transferred into Rose's care, but they would not remember the address that Harry was moving to.

Rose found Harry waiting at the front door with a few odds and ends wrapped up in an old tea towel. Rose took out her wand and shrunk it before putting the bundle into her pocket. Harry looked wide eyed at Rose.

"Harry, don't be afraid I promise to never hurt you. That was a little magic spell, I can do magic , which means I am a witch. You, Harry, are a wizard and you can also do magic. I will teach you some spells before you go to Hogwarts. That is a school where you will learn magic, but that is in a few years time. You will be old enough to attend when you are eleven years old. We will walk to the end of the street and call a magical bus to take us back to your new home. Okay?"

Harry nodded to show he understood. Rose smiled and grasped his hand and the pair walked away from Number Four, forever.

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The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts was quiet, Professor Dumbledore was currently assisting Professor McGonagall in reversing a student's mishap in Transfiguration earlier that day. An animated four legged table with the temperament of a Lion and was stalking the fourth floor of the castle.

The portraits were asleep as the office had been silent since the evening meal. Fawkes was asleep on his perch, he had a burning day on the weekend and was just a chick. Four of Dumbledore's devices tied into the blood wards on Privet Drive chirped and flashed before settling back to their normal output.

When Dumbledore returned to the office he did not notice that the devices were now tied into a different set of wards and that the blood wards surrounding Harry Potter had just gotten a massive influx of power and were now showing that the blood wards were very strong. The area around Wandsworth was now one of the safest locations in the British Isles.

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Harry greatly enjoyed the journey aboard the magical bus. After leaving Privet Drive, Rose hailed the bus and Harry was instructed to sit down on one of the beds and hold Rose tight. The motion of the bus cased the beds to slide all over the place and to bump the other beds. After a short amount of time and a few stops later Rose instructed Harry to get up, it was their stop.

Harry looked around him at his new neighbourhood. Rose took Harry into the house and Harry's belly rumbled.

"Are you hungry, Harry?" asked Rose to which Harry nodded.

"Well, sit down at the table and I will make you a snack and then straight to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." directed Rose.

Harry watched silently while Rose fried up some sausages and cooked some baked beans. Harry already liked it here in his new home. He had a feeling that he would never feel hungry again. When Harry finished his meal Rose took him to his new bedroom.

Harry looked around the room wide eyed, it was twice the size of Dudley's room. Rose apologised to Harry that there were no toys but promised him that tomorrow that problem would be solved. Harry drifted off to sleep for the first time with hope in his heart.

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Harry slowly awoke in his bedroom, his new bedroom in Wandsworth. He got up and looked around his empty room. His bed had simple blue duvet and sheets. Rose had apologised last night about the state of the house as she had only moved in two days ago. Harry had been told last night that Rose would explain what was happening this morning. Harry went searching for the bathroom, he was too tired last night to remember where it was.

Once done with what was necessary, Harry went downstairs to the kitchen. Rose was sitting at the table reading a book. A place was set beside her at the table. Rose looked up and asked Harry if he wanted breakfast. Harry nodded, Rose smiled and asked what he would like. Harry settled on cornflakes with milk and sugar.

When Harry was finished he started to get up and do the dishes, but Rose stopped him and asked him to sit down.

Rose began to explain what was going to happen for the next few weeks.

"Harry, you don't have to do all the chores, I would be grateful for the help though. On to other matters, today we are going shopping and this afternoon I will see the Principle of the school you will be going to, okay." said Rose.

Harry nodded to show he understood and resumed tidying the breakfast dishes away.

"Harry, I thought I said you didn't have to do all the dishes?" asked Rose quietly.

"Yeah, but I want to help, Aunt Petunia always said all I was good for was housework." whispered Harry.

"Oh, but that is not the way I want things done. I think your Aunt is so very wrong, I want you to do your homework from school apply yourself and do the best that you can do, play and have fun." said Rose.

Harry looked a bit surprised at the passion in Rose's voice.

"Do you understand, Harry, I want you to grow up happy and loved, part of being a loving family is we help each other, so if you help me with chores, I will help you with difficult homework and maybe, you will earn some pocket money to buy sweets or toys."

Harry looked wide eyed at that but a smile slowly blossomed on his face. Rose felt deep affection for Harry at that.

In short order the two of them had the kitchen tidy. Rose took Harry into the study and sat him down on a settee.

"Harry, last night I told you that you are a wizard and that I would teach you how to do magic, well that starts now, okay?" explained Rose.

Harry sat up and leaned closer to follow what Rose was saying.

"There are two worlds, the magical and the muggle. You grew up with your relatives in the muggle world. Muggle is a magical term for a person without magic. I think it is not a very nice word but I have not found a better one. The magical world hides from those without magic.

The magical world is similar to the muggle world, there is wizard money called Galleons, magical policemen called Aurors, there is a magical government." explained Rose.

Harry sat forward and listened attentively.

"To do magic, a Witch or a Wizard uses a wand, like this." said Rose as she brandished her wand and levitated a book from the table.

Harry's eyes lit up with wonder at the small feat of magic.

Rose smiled at Harry's reaction, she got up and retrieved a shoebox from the bookshelf. She had placed the shoebox there yesterday when she was preparing the house for Harry. She returned to the couch where Harry was watching her every move. Rose placed the shoebox on the coffee table and removed the lid. Inside was two old worn wands, her mother and Uncle Harry's wands, she had transferred the two wands into the shoebox while tidying her bedroom. All the paperwork that Bob had supplied was safely stored upstairs in the bedroom. Rose carefully removed her Uncle's wand and placed it on the coffee table and replaced the lid on the shoebox.

"This is my Uncle's wand, he died recently, please treat it with care, it is the only thing that reminds me of him. Normally a witch or wizard gets their wand at the age of eleven, just before they attend Hogwarts. I think my Uncle's wand will work for you until we get your new one in a few years time." said Rose as she held the wand out to Harry.

Harry tentatively reached out and grasped the wand by the offered handle. Harry's eyes widened as he felt pins and needles flow through his arm into his hand and the wand. The wand tip glowed bright red. "Wow!, thank you." gasped Harry.

"There are a few rules, Harry, the wand never leaves the house, you can tell no one about magic as it is a big secret. If knowledge gets out the magical policemen will come and punish you, okay?" stated Rose.

Harry nodded to show he understood.

"If you can follow the rules, I will teach you how to use the wand, and do magic." instructed Rose.

Harry looked eager to learn magic so Rose decided to show him first year spells to start with. Rose removed a fake rose from the flower vase on the table beside the settee and placed in front of Harry on the coffee table.

"Now, Harry the first spell I will teach you is _Wingardium Leviosa_ the levitation charm," explained Rose as she demonstrated the spell on the fake plastic flower.

Harry held his wand in a similar grip to Rose and tried the spell. His first attempt failed.

"The spell is pronounced _win-__**gar**__-dee-um lev-ee-__**oh**__-sa_, concentrate on making the flower float in the air." instructed Rose.

Harry tried again and the flower slowly lifted about two inches from the surface of the table.

"Very good, Harry" said Rose as she hugged Harry for managing that small feat of magic.

Harry stiffened at the unexpected contact. Rose frowned but smiled as Harry slowly relaxed. Rose was beginning to get a picture of Harry's life at the Dursleys, she was sorry that she had left them alone last night. After dinner she would take Harry shopping for clothes and toys. Tomorrow she would take him to the local school. Rose promised herself that Harry would never suffer a bad home life ever again. Rose introduced a game of levitating a small red ball she had conjured. It warmed her heart to see young Harry smile.

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A/N:Please Review.

Sainsbury's are a chain of supermarkets.

Sellotape is not a typo but the brand name of a British and Irish sticky tape.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Notes:

The following story is based on situations and characters owned by J.K. Rowling and/or her publishers/WB.

If I owned the characters and situation I'd be filthy rich and the ending would be completely different. :p

Spoilers for all seven books including the vile OBWF and crapilogue. :(

Warnings: Character deaths and scenes of suicide.

Thanks to my Proof readers:Muggledad & Tumshie

Thanks to IronChefOR for the use of Hermione's address in this story, it comes from his wonderful story _**Their Way **_found on Portkey and FF.n

He says that he has not abandoned it, " _The last year and a half have been difficult for me, to say the least, so while I have not been able to provide any updates, I have promised myself at least that I will not give up on it._"

My apologies to those living at the addresses mentioned in this little story.

Needless to say, this story occurs in fiction, any resemblance to reality is a mistake.

Chapter Three

**Wednesday, Fifth of November, Nineteen Eighty Six.**

Harry held Rose's hand as they walked down Regent Street in London. He was enjoying his shopping trip with Rose greatly. Preoccupied with what had happened earlier today, the wet weather did not dampen his sprits. After learning _Wingardium Leviosa _this morning, Rose made dinner. Harry was delighted to be fed during the middle of the day as this was an unusual occurrence. If he was still with the Dursleys, he would have had to wait until after he prepared his Uncle's dinner in the evening before he could feed himself. After a dinner of potato waffles, beans and chicken, Harry helped to tidy up. Rose then said she had to go shopping for some clothes for Harry. Harry was stunned that he would have his own clothes; he would never have to wear hand me downs from Dudley ever again. No more underpants with loose elastic waists that would always slide down his legs, no more socks pooling around his ankles, no more trainers taped up and stuffed with bum fluff.

Rose took Harry to Wandsworth High Street for clothes shopping and he was also fitted for his school uniform. Harry had learnt that he would be attending Brandlelow Primary School in Putney starting from tomorrow. Harry was happy that the clothes shopping had only taken two hours as he found it a chore to try on so many different outfits. As a treat Rose decided to finish the day by taking him in to see some of the sights in London.

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts when Rose stopped outside a large shop. The shop had large plate glass windows with toys visible in each of the window displays. The windows were separated by granite piers darkened by the rain. Harry looked wide eyed at the colourful displays, but one in particular caught his attention. The display that caught his attention appeared to be a small toy city made out of little studded blocks. The city had a fire station, police station and an airport. There were three trains running around on separate railways. The lowest railway ran beside a loading yard with loads of toy cars and trucks made from the bricks. Above the lower level, about a third of the way up the window, was the second railway running around the perimeter was a fast looking red and black train. The third railway line was in the very back of the display and Harry could not make it out clearly due to his poor eyesight. Some of the toy trucks in the display had flashing lights. Harry was mesmerised by the display of so many toys in one space. Harry pressed his face against the window to get a better look. If Rose hadn't known better, she would have sworn that she was watching a modern day Oliver Twist longing for 'more, please'.

"Harry, do you like what you see?" enquired Rose as she sat on her hunkers to be level with Harry.

Harry nodded wide eyed.

"Let's go in and get you some toys. It is not fair, that a nice boy like yourself is without any toys to play with." stated Rose with a mock frown.

"You mean I get to have toys?" asked Harry in a small voice.

"Yes, Harry, I will buy a lot of toys just this once to make up for the last five years. After that you will get one or two toys on your birthday in July and a few at Christmas. Okay?" replied Rose.

Harry nodded eagerly, Rose stood back up and took Harry's hand and led him into the shop. Harry looked around him in shock there were toys everywhere, he had never even seen a toy store before, much less been inside one. Rose told him to go and explore and find five toys he liked. Harry slowly moved among the shelves of toys with Rose following behind him by two or three paces. On the ground floor Harry discovered that most of the toys were of stuffed animals and he picked out a stuffed brown bear with a pirate's hat and a black eye patch. Harry liked the stuffed bear as the bear had the same eye colouring as he did.

Rose told a wide eyed Harry that there were more toys upstairs. Harry climbed the stairs hugging his new bear. Rose bought a wooden chess set made from stained walnut and beech, the set also came with draughts pieces (AN1). At Harry's questioning look Rose explained that her father and uncle played chess and she would teach him the game. While Harry was busy looking Rose purchased some sweets from the sweet shop on that level.

Harry found nothing of interest on that floor so the pair went upstairs. The baby toys did not interest Harry on this level so they went up again to the third floor which was laid out for girls.

"I don't think you want anything on this floor?" joked Rose.

Harry frowned and said "No."

"The toys for boys are upstairs" answered Rose smiling at the typically male reaction at seeing so much pink.

When Harry reached the top of the stairs his eyes widened at all the boys toys laid out before him. Rose smiled at the joy in Harry's face. After half an hour Harry had selected some small Matchbox cars and two Transformers, the first was Optimus Prime and the other was Starscream. Harry seemed to be happy but Rose could tell something was wrong so she asked him.

"What's wrong Harry?" quizzed Rose as they queued to pay for the toys.

"I am happy with my toys, but I would like some of the bricks in the window display, they look like fun." whispered Harry afraid he would appear ungrateful and upset Rose.

"Okay, we'll make it six toys then. I'll ask where the Lego is, when we pay." said Rose.

"Lego?" asked Harry.

"That is the name of the bricks, did you not see the large red, white and yellow logo on the top of the window?" asked a puzzled Rose.

Harry shook his head wondering, did he see the sign in the window?

Rose frowned in thought but said nothing. Harry looked at the back of the box that contained Optimus Prime. Rose gently pushed Harry to a cashiers desk to pay for the toys. Once the transaction was completed Rose asked the lady behind the counter where the Lego was on sale. The lady handed over the plastic bags to Harry with Hamley's written in red down the side and replied that the Lego was stocked in the basement beside the play area. Rose thanked the woman and headed for the escalators.

Harry looked wide eyed at the large play area to the left of the escalator as he rode it to the bottom. There was about twenty circular tables with hollow basins in the centres, each table stocking something different. Harry noticed that some of the tables contained Lego blocks, some tables contained brightly painted wooden blocks and some contained Play-Doh. Harry knew that it was Plasticine as he saw it in his old school. Harry ran over to one of the free tables of Lego. Rose followed at more sedate pace, smiling at Harry's reaction, it was good to see him behave like his age and not as a little slave working for the Dursleys.

Rose patiently watched Harry play with the various toys laid out on the tables. It was obvious that Harry enjoyed playing with the Lego bricks as he spent the most time at one of the Lego tables building houses and making cars. After letting Harry play for an hour, Rose decided that it was time to go home. At Harry's crestfallen expression Rose caved in to his desires, muttering about "green puppy dog eyes." She agreed to buy him some Lego sets. Harry even used his woeful expression so that Rose would buy a couple of the more difficult Lego Technic sets.

Harry left Hamley's a very happy boy, Rose left slightly concerned feeling that she was wrapped around Harry's finger.

That evening Harry was allowed to play with his new toys until nine o'clock before he had to go to bed as Rose intended to take him to school tomorrow. Harry tried to beg for some more play time but he yawned loudly at the end of his protest. Reluctantly he went to bed clutching his new teddy bear.

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Rose felt like her body was moving through treacle. She was hurrying to save a woman's life but she knew instinctively she would not make it. The woman, had long wild brown hair and was sitting in a Victorian bath which was in the middle of a black and white checker board tiled floor. Rose could not see the walls, the bath stood in the middle of the vast floor. A light grey fog limited visibility to about sixty feet. Rose drew closer to the woman in the bath.

Rose felt a lump rise in her throat as the woman picked up an old fashioned straight razor. The woman's hand was obscured by the rim of the bath as her hands went into her lap. Rose felt her throat constrict as the woman lifted the razor, the blade red with her blood. Rose rushed forward to try and stop the insane woman. She felt like she was moving in slow motion. Shocked and dismayed, she saw her mother's pale face come into focus on the woman in the bath tub.

Rose redoubled her efforts to reach her mother but the distance seemed to have suddenly doubled. Hermione lifted the blood soaked blade one handed and the blade bit into her other wrist, blood flowed freely and splashed the polished marble tiled floor. Rose screamed, "NO!"

Her heart was thumping hard in her chest threatening to burst through her ribcage. With tears streaming from her face she lunged for the bath. A minor victory, as she grasped the rim of the bath. Rose fastened her hand around her mother's hand holding the razor to stop her from inflicting more self harm. Rose forced the implement from her mother's hand, the bloody razor clattered to the floor. Rose clamped her hand onto the wound on her mother's wrist.

Her efforts were futile, though. Slowly, the bath began to fill with blood from the wounds on Hermione's thighs. Rose wailed as she failed to save her mother - again. Feeling her mother's body begin to grow cold, Rose raised her head after a time crying to look at her mother's face.

Seeing her face obscured by her mother's wild hair, Rose gently took the brown hair from her face and gasped when her own face stared back at her. Backing up in shock that her mother had morphed into herself she began to look about frantically. There was something very strange going on. Rose started to panic, felt weak and about to faint. Her eyesight began to dim. When she began to feel pain in her legs, Rose looked down. She did not remember stripping out of her clothes. Blood was flowing freely from two deep gashes on her upper thighs, just like her mother's corpse. Shocked and weak from blood loss, she collapsed onto the white floor.

Rose gasped in shock as she felt a stabbing pain in her left wrist. She looked at her wrist in shock at the new wound that suddenly appeared. Rose looked around her wildly, her mother's corpse had vanished and so had the bath. The walls and floor were white. A large circular drain was to her right. Rose looked up and gasped as she realised that she was in a giant bath. The floor was stained red as her own blood flowed towards the plug hole. Rose needed to get out of her predicament. Terrified, she screamed "NO".

With a start Rose sat bolt upright in her bed. Her nightie was soaked with sweat and her heart was beating wildly in her ribcage. She was hyper awake. Reaching out, her wand snapped into her hand, the end glowing brightly which bathed the room in a soft white light. She played the light over her wrist and thighs finding no wounds, just unblemished skin. Whipping the bedclothes off of the bed, looking for bloodstains, she sighed in relief, it had only been a very vivid nightmare.

Reality slowly dawned on Rose. She was in Wandsworth and safe. A glance at the clock indicated that it was almost half four in the morning. Sighing in relief Rose extinguished her wand and placed it on the bedside locker. She slowly lay back down as her nightmare continued to insistently play through her mind. Rose was restless and finding it difficult to sleep as the memory of the nightmare just would not leave her. It had been all so very vivid, Rose felt like she had been actually there. Her eyes eventually grew heavy and Rose slipped into a fitful slumber.

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Rose awoke feeling uneasy, there was something wrong: she felt uneasy right down to her bones. Looking around the darkened room, she lit her wand and saw the clock read a quarter past five. It was less than an hour since her nightmare had awoken her. A feeling welled up in her she had to check on Harry. Silently, she slipped out of the bed and summoned her dressing gown. Slipping it on, Rose silently padded out of the room to check up on Harry.

Harry's bedroom door was closed. As Rose approached the room she felt oppressive magic emanate from behind the door. Rose slowly opened the door and entered the room to find Harry was sleeping fitfully in his bed, Rose was surprised that he was still asleep with all the tossing and turning he was doing. Looking around the tidy room his new guardian tried to determine the source of the malicious magical energy she was feeling. The air in the room was oppressive, pushing against her. Shaking her head, Rose tried to control the instinctive feeling for her magic to react.

Rose slowly sat on the bedside and gasped. The light from her wand illuminated Harry's face and she saw his famous scar was an angry red colour and was bleeding freely. To her horror, she saw that some of the blood had run into Harry's eyes. The poor boy was crying and grimacing in his sleep. Rose silently left the room feeling weak at the sight of blood.

Rose made her way to the bathroom and rinsed a facecloth in cold water and rung it out. She returned to Harry's bedroom with the damp facecloth and the first aid kit she had bought yesterday. Harry was still sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning. The blood weeping from his scar was now smeared on his face like gruesome war paint. Steeling herself, Rose lit Harry's bedside light and used the facecloth to wash Harry's face cleam of the blood. Harry awoke with a start and backed away from Rose in shock.

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Rose.

"It hurts" whimpered Harry.

"Where?" asked Rose in concern.

"Here." said Harry as he gestured to his forehead.

Rose carefully wiped Harry's forehead and whispered encouraging words of comfort to calm him down. Harry was surprisingly docile under Rose's ministrations. In short order Harry's weeping scar was bandaged. The lad winced as he lay back down in the bed.

"Still sore?" asked Rose in concern.

Harry nodded with pain filled eyes.

"Does it happen often?" quizzed Rose wondering if Harry had suffered under the Dursley's care.

Harry shrugged, as he tried to make himself comfortable in the bed.

"Every day?" quizzed Rose.

Harry shock his head in the negative.

"How often does it happen then?" asked a puzzled Rose.

Realizing his distress, Rose climbed into the bed and hugged Harry to her. Harry stiffened at the physical contact, after a while he relaxed when he realised that Rose was offering physical comfort. The comfort a mother would give, he felt a pang of loss for his dead mother. She asked Harry to explain as she gently stroked Harry's head, trying to ease his suffering.

"It seems to happen every couple of days, as a splitting headache. Normally it would dull to a bearable pain but this is the first time my scar has bled. Usually it just becomes itchy and if I rub it, it might bleed and become sore. But I haven't scratched it for a week, so I don't know why it's bleeding now. I've got used to the pain, though. When I told my Aunt about the pain she said it was; _'Good enough for a freak like you to be in pain'_. I thought it was normal," said Harry glumly.

"Oh, Harry, that's not normal, in the morning we'll go to the healer and have you checked. Having headaches like that is not normal at all." answered Rose as she kissed Harry on the forehead beside his bandaged scar.

Harry felt the love in Rose's gentle hug and slipped into a peaceful slumber as his head hurt less than earlier. Rose frowned about her current situation as she felt Harry relax as he fell asleep. Harry had fallen asleep in her lap, and they were half sitting, half lying on top of Harry's bed. Rose decided she would bring Harry to the healer surgery in St. Mungo's later this morning.

Rose glanced at the clock on Harry's bedside locker, the face read quarter to six. Harry was sleeping peacefully on her lap. She was reluctant to disturb his sleep but she needed to return to her own bed as the position she found herself in was uncomfortable. In fact, her back was killing her. Reluctantly she gently tucked Harry in to his bed and slipped out. Harry shifted groggily at the manoeuvre but quickly settled down. Rose went back to her cold bed and found that she could not sleep, so she decided to get up and make an early start on the day.

Since it was going to be a long day with the planned visit to the healers, Rose decided to let Harry sleep in. Harry awoke at five past nine and was dressed and ready for their trip to St. Mungo's by a quarter to ten.

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Dressed in his new clothes that had been bought yesterday, Harry was pleased that he no longer had to wear hand me downs anymore. The breakfast dishes were clean and the kitchen was tidy. Having forgotten about the night-time discussion, Harry thought that he was starting in his new school this morning. Rose reminded him that they would be going to the doctor this morning. Besides he'd slept in too late to make it to school. That is how Harry found himself, dressed and waiting in the Sitting room.

Rose entered wearing a travel cloak and held in her hands a smaller cloak for Harry to wear which she fastened it around his neck. Once she was happy with Harry's appearance she lit a fire in the grate of the ornate fire place. Harry looked puzzled at her actions, he thought that they were going to the doctors.

"Harry, as a wizard you have many options when it comes to going on a journey which you will use as you grow. You remember the trip on the Knight Bus? Well this is the second form of magical travel. It is called Floo travel, you say your destination in a clear voice, throw some of the Floo Powder into the fire and step through once the fire turns green. Here I'll show you." explained Rose.

Harry looked a little worried at the thought of stepping into the fire. Rose picked up the urn that contained the Floo Powder on the hearth and showed the contents to Harry. Harry fought down a sneeze, as the silvery powder dust irritated his nose. Rose picked up a handful of the powder and threw it on the fire. The orange and red flames changed colour to a brilliant green. Rose turned to Harry and said.

"As you can see the fire is green, now you say your destination clearly, tuck your elbows into your body and step through, bending your knees slightly on the exit."

Harry nodded to show he understood the instructions so far. The fire's flames returned to their normal colours of reds and oranges. Rose turned, offered the urn of Floo Powder to Harry and directed him to use the powder. Harry grasped a handful of the magical powder and threw it onto the fire, again the flames turned green.

"Before we go one more thing. Our Floo connection, . . fire place has a password protecting it like a front door key. Keep it too yourself and don't tell anyone, Okay?" stated Rose in a firm voice.

Harry nodded to show he understood the seriousness of the situation.

"Good, anytime you return home say; '_Grey Residence', _followed by_: 'Books and cleverness' _The first part is the name of the house, a magical address if you will. The second part is the password in memory of my mother." explained Rose with a hitch in her throat as she thought of her dead mother.

Harry wondered why Rose seemed to be sad. Maybe she was like him and no longer had a mother. Harry wondered if he should hug her but he was afraid of angering his new guardian. The green flames roared from the reinvigorated fire, pulling Harry from his thoughts.

"Okay Harry lets go. Step in and say 'St. Mungo's' clearly and wait for me on the other side. Understood?" instructed Rose.

Harry steeled himself for this new experience, clearly stating the destination and stepped forward into the green fire, Marvelling at the fact that the green flames did not burn him, he felt sucked into the Floo Network. Harry was peripherally aware of other fireplaces flashing past at speed before he was spat out at his destination at a fair speed. The boy-who-lived exited the fireplace in St. Mungo's with legs bent as Rose had instructed. He staggered forward from the momentum a couple of steps, but managed to stay up right.

Looking around curiously, he found that he was in a very large room almost as big as a train shed. It was a long narrow room, which had three sets of double doors painted white with illegible writhing over the doors at one end. The opposite side held two sets of double doors and a reception desk between the doors. The two long walls connecting the doors had numerous fireplaces spread equidistant. Every so often, a fire place would erupt with green flames and a witch or wizard would step out and dust themselves down. Harry looked up and was amazed to see floating white candles providing the room's illumination.

Harry noticed that the odd person would fall out of the fireplace. This made him feel strangely good as he felt foolish for having stumbled out of his own fireplace. Just as Harry turned to look back at the fireplace he came from, he witnessed Rose's graceful exit. He hoped that one day he could exit the Floo just like Rose had just done. His guardian hurried over and began to clean the soot off of Harry's clothes and face. Harry grinned and bore it, as Rose cleaned his face with her handkerchief. At least she hadn't licked the handkerchief before applying it to his smudges. He'd seen Aunt Petunia do that to Dudley once and it had almost made him gag. Once Rose was happy with Harry's appearance, she grasped his hand and guided him towards the reception desk as she put the soiled cloth back into her handbag.

Harry held Rose's hand as they approached the reception desk. He silently watched as Rose asked the receptionist for directions to the Surgery. Eventually, they began a short journey that took him up two flights of stairs and down three corridors. He was thoroughly lost and desperately hoped that Rose remembered how to get out of the Hospital.

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When she entered the waiting room of the Surgery, Rose remembered the first time she visited the Healer Surgery in St. Mungo's. She had gotten sick when she was seven, and after being bedridden for two days her mother had decided to take her to see the Healer, Healer Driscoll. He had been a large kind man with a funny accent. Rose was diagnosed with a nasty strain of Wizard flu which nearly killed her. Unfortunately, she had missed two weeks of school due to quarantine as it was feared that this new strain was contagious.

Rose was pulled from her memories when she felt Harry squeeze her hand. They were stood in the doorway of the waiting room. Rose just hoped she managed to find a good Healer for Harry. She moved forward briskly with Harry trotting beside her. The receptionist looked up as Rose reached the reception desk.

"Which Healers are on this morning?" asked Rose.

"Let's see." said the receptionist as she rifled through a large book. "Healer Manmalis is booked solid this morning, but is free in the afternoon. Healer Driscoll is a new healer from the States. He started just last year and comes in at ten. He's free 'til this afternoon. Healer Baker is currently not available as he is working the spell reversal ward in the main hospital. Finally Healer Frasier is on maternity leave."

"Okay, I'll see Healer Driscoll, please." said Rose.

"Name?" asked the receptionist.

"Grey, Rose." stated Rose as the receptionist entered Rose's name into the book.

"Take a seat, the Healer will call for you." stated the receptionist as she returned to reading Witch Weekly.

Rose guided Harry over to the rows of seats and picked up and old dog-eared copy of Which Broomstick. Rose frowned there was nothing else left to read. Harry nudged Rose when he saw a table of magical toys. Rose nodded and said he could go play, Harry smiled in thanks and rushed over to the table of toys.

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Sean Driscoll was a large man, over six feet high and broad across the shoulders. He could of easily played American Football or become a Wrestler like Hulk Hogan on television. Sean had piercing blue-green eyes and dirty blond hair and had come over to England with his English wife Anne four years ago. Anne's parents were murdered during He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's reign of terror. When Anne received a letter from her sister saying that the terror had passed, she convinced her husband to take her home. Sean, wanting to please his wife, agreed and the young couple had moved to London.

Sean had been taught under the American approach to learning advanced magic such as healing, through an apprenticeship. The American model for healthcare used a Healer's surgery modelled after the muggles to free up the magical hospitals He had approached Healer Manmalis with the idea of setting up this style of surgery at St. Mungo's. The new surgery would deal with the minor cases to free up the accident and emergency department. Healer Manmalis agreed and the surgery came into existence last year. Unfortunately take up was slow as most patients wanted to see the established Healers like Manmalis and Baker. As a result, Sean was pleased to see that he had a patient this morning. The young healer had just donned his white robe and called in his first patient of the day, a Mrs. Grey.

A woman with auburn hair stood up and called to a small black haired boy to come to her. She grasped the boy's hand and both approached him. He was puzzled as normally the parents booked in their child's name if it was the child that needed to see a Healer. He led the pair to his office and directed them to the chairs in front of his desk.

His office was fairly typical of both Doctor and Healer surgeries across the planet. There was a padded examination table along one wall, with a light on a moveable arm attached to the wall. Beside the exam table was a hand basin and cabinet of potions which was flanked by a small potions lab behind a cloth screen. In front of a magical window showing a beach scene somewhere in the tropics, was an office table and three chairs. The Healer's chair was upholstered in fine worn brown leather. The two chairs in front of the desk were simple wooden chairs with the seat and backs upholstered in a tough well worn fabric. On the opposite wall to the exam table was a small play area for little witches and wizards to play while the parent could talk to the Healer.

Sean sat at the desk and directed the young woman and boy to sit. He guessed the woman, Ms. Grey was in her mid twenties and quite pretty. The young boy looked to be about five maybe six and had an underfed look about him.

"Good morning my name is Healer Driscoll and how may I help you?" enquired Sean as he introduced himself.

"Morning, Healer, before we begin may I ask a question?" stated Ms. Grey with an intensity that surprised Sean.

Sean nodded curious to what the woman's question could be.

"I would like you to swear a confidentiality oath, for my young charge, I would also trust you to hear me out before you begin your diagnosis, okay?" responded Ms. Grey.

Sean frowned in thought, but took another look at the boy. The boy was looking at him in shy curiosity, with brilliant green eyes. Green eyes, Sean's eyes widened in understanding, he could see a white bandage on his forehead with blood seepage visible. Maybe the child was the famous Harry Potter. If so, it would explain the request for the oath and the reason Ms Grey used her name instead of the boy's name. The visit was probably regarding the famous wound on the boy's head.

"Okay Ms. Grey I'll do it even though it is unusual." responded Sean.

"Thank you and my young charge is Harry Potter." replied Ms. Grey.

Sean nodded as his suspicions were confirmed and dutifully swore the oath protecting the information that he was now young Harry's Healer. Once the oath was sworn Ms. Grey introduced herself as Rose Grey.

"What seems to be matter?" Asked Sean of young Harry in a pleasant voice.

"Head hurts." whimpered Harry.

"Well let's get a look at you then." replied a smiling Sean.

"I think there is something seriously wrong with Harry. He woke me last night from his room and there was oppressive, almost suffocating, magic emanating from his room. I got up and checked on him to find him tossing and turning, moaning in his sleep. His scar was bleeding." explained Rose.

Sean frowned at that piece of information. He ran through his standard diagnostic spells and charms. The results were puzzling to say the least. He decided to visually inspect the scar, so he slowly and carefully removed the bandage on Harry's head. Despite being an American, Sean was aware of the legend surrounding Harry and the night his parents were killed. Frowning, he was surprised that the wound looked fresh on the young boy's forehead. It started weeping blood the minute the bandages were loose. Sean conjured up a wad of cotton gauze and pressed it against the wound. Harry whimpered in pain. Sean turned to Rose and asked to be told Harry's medical history.

"Sorry, I don't know his medical history. I know that he was placed with his mother's sister. I was informed that he was not being looked after and was that I was to be his guardian. I rescued Harry from his Aunt and Uncle two nights ago. I had intended to bring him to a Healer for a medical but Harry seemed to get a good night's sleep on the first night." Looking at Harry with a caring, concerned expression, she continued, "But last night was very bad for him."

"Who placed him with his Aunt and Uncle and why?" asked Sean as he peered closer at the wound.

"I don't know who placed him with his Aunt and Uncle, but I do know there were Blood Wards around the house that were not working properly. I knew how to transfer them to Harry's new home, but I haven't checked them yet." replied Rose.

"Damn! Transfer of Blood wards is not common here in England but back home in the States it is pretty common for the Native nomadic tribes. It's known back home that after shifting the wards, there is usually a twenty four to thirty six hours waiting period before they come to full power. Usually a night watch is put in place over the subject or subjects of the ward. Now normally Blood Wards are benign to the rightful occupants. The fact Harry had difficulty last night indicates that the Blood Wards are trying to protect Harry from something." Sean trailed off in thought, he got up suddenly and went over to his bookcase and took down a large black book. The book was from his medical library back home in Massachusetts.

As Sean looked through the book he asked, "Let me guess the Blood Wards did not work as his original guardians did not love him?"

"I guess so." replied Rose.

"Well, back home in North America the native nomadic tribes use the wards due to their strength, effectiveness and ease of transfer. It's only since I moved here that I have learnt they way you, what I mean is, European witches and wizards regard blood wards as dark magic. It is unusual for Harry to be protected by a Blood Ward, but according to the legend surrounding that night, his mother sacrificed her life for Harry" said Sean as he teased out his thoughts aloud.

"That matches what I've been told. Lily sacrificed herself for Harry. That protection caused the killing curse cast at Harry to rebound. That sacrifice was then used to erect the Blood Wards but I was not told who erected the wards or why." replied Rose thoughtfully.

"The sacrifice used in Blood Wards by the tribes in the states are usually provided by a minimum of three witches. It is the norm that the Blood Ward acts as a community protection. And due to this it is not seen as dark magic, instead it helps to strengthen the community."

"Oh, but what about individual families?" quizzed Rose

"Well in the tribes I studied, the Blood Wards kept anyone out you wanted to do harm or steal from anyone in the community. But for added protection the head of an individual family would erect their own ward over the family's tents or tepees." answered Sean.

"So you are quite familiar with Blood Wards?" asked Rose.

"Yes, I studied them for my warding class. It is only recently that I have found information on European Blood Wards." replied Sean.

"Okay, so do know of a reason why the wards were not working properly at his old residence?" asked Rose.

"Well let's look at the facts and work from there. Someone erected Blood Wards based on the sacrifice Harry's mother made. Due to the nature of European Blood Wards it is likely that whoever erected the wards placed Harry with Blood relatives. You were given enough information to successfully transfer the wards over to your new address. Correct?" theorized Sean.

Rose nodded in agreement.

"Harry, did you consider your old house as home?" asked Sean.

Harry shook his head in the negative.

Sean followed the first question with "Do you consider your home to be with Rose?"

Harry smiled and eagerly nodded his head.

Sean frowned in thought before turning to Rose and said. "Well it looks like the key to the wards where Harry considers home is. And since that was not the old house, maybe they never activated fully. If they never activated fully that could mean they have only just activated. I think that the Blood Wards are the family variant and historically family variants are very powerful." said Sean.

"Sounds plausible" agreed Rose.

"I think that if the wards had worked before they could of fixed whatever was wrong with Harry gradually and not cause Harry any pain at all. The fact that it looks like they never activated is a mute point now as Harry is now suffering. It is worrying that the Blood Wards are reacting so strongly after we have just determined that they just activated." replied Sean gravely as he perused the book.

Sean found the spell he wanted and read the passage three times to make sure he understood the wand motions of the spell he intended to use. Once satisfied he turned to Harry and said. "I am going to cast a spell, it may hurt a little but I am using it to try and discover what is wrong, Okay?"

Harry trembled in fear, but nodded stiffly. Sean sent his wand through a complex series of motions before a dull white light issued from the wand which connected to Harry's forehead. Harry felt intense pins and needles all over his body before the headache became noticeably more painful. Biting back a groan of pain, the boy glowed for about five seconds before a large ghostly white ball formed over his head. The ball of energy slowly rotated clockwise.

Sean frowned when he saw a smaller pitch black ball of energy stuck to the white ball in the upper hemisphere. Sean gestured with his wand and the spinning stopped. Another gesture and the area affected by the pitch black ball grew larger, as if in magnification. Sean frowned in thought as he examined the area around the black ball. The black ball was barely attached to the white ball, it was as if the two ball were glued together and then a force had tried to rip them apart. The rip looked to be about half way done. Sean paled as he had an inkling of what the black ball of energy represented. Sean cast another spell at the black ball of energy and sat back heavily as the new spell confirmed his suspicions.

Sean collected his thoughts before gravely offering, "I think I might have an idea of what happened to Harry, now it is only my speculation, you understand."

"Okay, continue please." replied a now nervous Rose.

"I think that whatever He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did that terrible night left behind a piece of himself. That fragment of himself attached to Harry, maybe through the scar but that isn't really relevant. Since that night, the fragment or soul shard has lain dormant like a sleeping dragon, causing Harry some background pain which would explain the intermittent pain and itching he experiences.

"The only recent major change in his life is that Harry moved to live with you. The Blood Wards are charging to full power for the first time since they were cast because you love Harry. They have sensed something attacking Harry and are trying to banish the perceived attacker. Unfortunately for Harry, if the Blood Wards are allowed to continue, Harry would suffer greatly. I fear that in their efforts to protect him, the Wards may very well cause more harm than good. Worst case scenario is that Harry could lose his magic and become a Squib or possibly even die," concluded Sean.

The healer flicked his wand and the ghostly image of the two balls of energy disolved. Sean cast another spell at Harry, ghostly runes appeared over Harry's head.

"Unfortunately for Harry the soul fragment is binding Harry's magic and must be removed. I am not qualified or trained to even attempt the task. Fortunately, I have a friend studying Ancient Egyptian magic in Cairo and more than likely he could help Harry. He is busy and would probably be available over the Christmas holidays. I'll owl him to confirm that he can and will help. In the mean time I will have to mitigate the Blood Wards effects on young Harry. It will be a stop gap solution, but should provide some relief," said Sean as he went to his small potions laboratory.

Sean used a number seven potions base to create a potion for Harry's unique situation. A cloud of blue-purple smoke rolled out of the caldron when it was finished. Sean placed a large pad of Griffin wool into the caldron to soak. As Sean worked on the potion he explained what he was doing to Rose and Harry.

"Rose, I will give you the recipe and directions for this potion. To save time I have also included the short form that is based on base number seven. At first glance it will appear to be toxic so be careful to not inhale the fumes. The Griffin wool mitigates the toxic effects and is used for cursed scars and wounds inflicted by the blackest of Dark Arts." explained Sean as he handed over a four foot roll of parchment.

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Rose quickly scanned the document and her eyes widened in shock as she saw the potion's list of ingredients, she understood the reason for the warning but fortunately she had studied this potion for her NEWT in advance potions. From her studies, she knew that the potion could be used with three different materials, Griffin wool, Acromantula Silk, and Unicorn hair. Griffin wool was used for bandaging wounds as the wool transformed the potion into a powerful healing cloth. The Griffin wool was the easiest to acquire as it came from the underbelly of a Griffin, and there was one source of good quality wool from China.

Acromantula Silk also created a powerful healing cloth but as the silk was much more expensive it was rarely used. While the Griffin wool cloth was used for most wounds, the Acromantula Silk was used for delicate areas on the skin and inside the body to heal organs. When specially treated, Acromantula Silk could dissolve inside the body after a period of a few days. Unfortunately it was a rarely used practice in Europe or else people like Mad-Eye Moody might have retained the use of catastrophically wounded limbs.

The practice of using Acromantula Silk in Europe was introduced by Rose's mother when she was in fifth year when the silk had saved her father's liver. He had been hit with Sectumsempra while on a stakeout of Knockturn Alley. The counter spell died with the spells creator Severus Snape, but Hermione Weasley would not be beaten by a dead man's spell.

Unicorn hair is never used as it is considered Dark magic to harvest the hair of a Unicorn. Unicorn hair can only be harvested from a dead animal or leavings from shed mane or tail.. Rose had learnt of this particular combination from Headmaster Snape's personal notes that she found in his old quarters beside the Slytherin common room. Unfortunately Rose only discovered Snape's notes in sixth year, otherwise her father would never had to give up alcohol.

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As Rose studied the roll of parchment and her subsequent trip down memory lane, Sean removed the potion laced Griffin wool and applied it to Harry's forehead. A roll of bandage held the cloth in place. Sean stepped back and asked Harry, "Is that better?"

Harry shrugged, he was not sure.

"Give it a little time, but it should help. The fact that the bandage is in place should help relieve the pain inflicted by the Blood Ward's trying to help you." said Sean.

Rose looked up and asked, "How often should it be applied, Healer?"

"Sean, Please, we are all friends, right?" replied Sean, but then answered Rose's question, "The bandage needs to be applied every twelve hours until the fragment is removed from Harry's magical core. If the headache's don't lessen or get worse come back and we'll try something else."

"Thank you Sean, can you now give Harry a physical? I don't think he has ever had one with his former guardians." replied Rose.

Sean nodded and conducted a full physical. Once Sean was finished with his examination he pointed Harry towards the small play table, and Harry happily started to play leaving the two adults to talk.

"How is Harry's health?" asked Rose in concern.

"Surprisingly better than expected considering what you hinted at earlier." replied Sean.

"Huh?" startled Rose as Sean's response caught her unawares.

"Harry lived with relatives of some description that were not looking after Harry. You stepped in and your visit today confirms that you care for him. His glasses prescription is wrong for him which may be contributing to his headaches. He is malnourished but fortunately we have caught it in time, if left longer his core would have had to make up the difference and thus stunted his magical growth. Once that soul fragment is gone he should grow up to be a strong young wizard.

"I have cast a spell on his glasses that will alter the prescription automatically to suit his eyes. Pretty handy that. You'll need to update the charm once a week until you visit the optometrist and get a proper set of glasses. I have started Harry on a three month potions course for his various issues. The potions course consists of three potions, two to be taken orally and the third applied to each eye by a dropper.

The first is a nutrient supplement to help his diet. The prescription is for three weeks, after which he should be fit and healthy. Of course, the nutrient potion should be complemented with a balanced diet. The second potion is to reinforce his magical core as it fights the soul fragment. This will only need to be taken until the fragment is removed. Unfortunately, his core will need all the help he can get. It won't make his core any stronger, just increase his chances of survival. I must warn you, there is a very slim chance that the removal of the soul fragment could kill Harry.

The third potion is for his eyes. For the last two hundred years North America has been world leaders in repairing the senses, such as hearing and sight. I am using a well understood method of healing, for Harry's sight. It would appear that as well as having a pair of lazy eyes, that resulted in his short-sightedness, Harry has slight damage to his irises. It would appear that this might due to spell fire. I have seen it before in battlefield triage. Before becoming a civilian Healer I was part of the Auror Corps," explained Sean as he passed over the first dose of potions and the scroll of parchment containing all the relevant information Rose required.

"Thank you, I hope your friend in Egypt can help Harry." said Rose as she grasped Sean's hand in thanks.

"Is that it?" asked Sean.

"Can I get a health exam and then I will leave you to see your other patents." said Rose.

Sean smiled at Rose's comment, but fulfilled Rose's request. He smiled as he saw the pair to the door after giving Rose a clean bill of health. His grin grew at the wave Harry gave him as the young boy left the room.

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Authors Notes:

AN1Draughts is the English name for a board game known to Americans as Checkers.


End file.
